The ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is a leakage protection product widely used in countries/regions such as the United States, Canada, North America, and South America. A GFCI may provide power to loads through jacks in its upper cover; it may power the loads through a delivery connection assembly, while reducing electrical safety risks.
Chinese Patent Application No. CN104332946A, published on Feb. 4, 2015, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a “power supply grounding fault protection circuit and grounding fault circuit interrupter.” The power supply grounding fault protection circuit comprises a power supply circuit, a leakage grounding detection circuit, a signal amplifying and shaping circuit, a microcontroller control circuit, a power supply detection and indicator circuit, a tripping mechanism control circuit, and a reverse connection detection and execution circuit. To implement leakage protection for the power supply, the electromagnetic tripping mechanism is configured to act responsively to the leakage grounding detection circuit.
The above-described power supply grounding fault protection circuit, through providing a reverse connection detection and execution circuit and a simulation leakage circuit, reduces safety risks that may be caused by, for example, incorrect GFCI installation. It may also provide an automatic leakage detection function during operation. In a working state, when the grounding fault circuit interrupter fails, for example due to current leakage, a user may be warned of the failure so that the device may be timely replaced. This may prevent circuit safety risks caused by delayed observance of GFCI failure, and thus significantly improves safety protection function of the GFCI.
Nevertheless, the existing power supply grounding fault protection circuit has the following drawbacks: When a GFCI has been tripped and after the leakage fault of the circuit is eliminated, the GFCI must be manually reset to resume operation. Thus, when an operator is away from the GFCI and is not able to manually reset the GFCI, it may be difficult to place the GFCI back into its normal working state.